The recent emergence of mobile phones and services permit users to communicate even while traveling between locations. Modern mobile phones are configured with many features that allow users to stay in communication regardless of their location. A popular feature used by mobile phone users is call forwarding, which permits an incoming call to a mobile phone to be directed to another phone, for example, an office phone, home phone, or a hotel phone. Another feature offered by Mitel Networks Corporation of Ontario, Canada, is Dynamic Extension, which allows a user to configure a personal ring group (PRG) of several phones that can all ring simultaneously when a call is placed to a single phone number. For example, as shown in FIG. 1, a call 110 initiated by an originating telephone 102 to a destination telephone 106 can be intercepted by a communications server 108, for example, a Mitel® 3300 Integrated Communications server (ICP). The communications server 108 can direct 112 the incoming call to the destination telephone 106, and also forward 114 the incoming call to a mobile phone 104, which is configured as a member of the PRG.
While these features permit a mobile phone user to be accessible regardless of location, the service costs associated with mobile phone use can be expensive, especially if the mobile phone is used outside the local coverage area defined in the user's mobile phone service plan. In addition, when an incoming call fails in delivery to a destination mobile phone, the call is typically rerouted to a voicemail service, often without awareness by the user of the incoming call. The mobile phone user can incur additional charges for calls made to voicemail.
To address these issues, some mobile phone users rely on a multi-mode mobile phone with satellite capability and subscribe to a plan with a service provider that reduces the additional expense involved with calls outside the coverage area. Such service plans can be expensive.
Mobile phone users may replace the subscriber identity module (SIM) in the mobile phone, to change the coverage area to include the region where they are currently located. However, this approach requires careful planning as well as manual replacement of the SIM by the user, which can result in damage to the SIM or the mobile phone. Improper replacement of a SIM can also result in additional toll charges.